Research

Mascots and Religion in Japan

While a visiting scholar at the University of Vienna’s Department of Religious Studies, I am conducting extensive literature review and theoretical groundwork for my doctoral research, which is outlined below. I am also preparing the empirical apparatus for my field work. The ubiquitous presence of mascots in Japan is a bewildering phenomenon. Mascots adorn the neon lit streets of Akihabara and Harajuku in Tōkyō, right down to the narrow streets of the quaint little town of Matsumoto. They are used by almost every institution and organisation imaginable in Japan and are accepted, embraced, and consumed by people of all generations and walks of life. Mascots are predominant in every prefecture, post office, police station, fire department, subways, train lines, and so on. They are divided into two types: commercial characters, like Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma, etc., and yuruchara like Kumamon, Funassyi, Tsukuba’s very own Captain Fukkun, etc. A mascot is an anthropomorphic creature or object appropriated by a group with a common public identity as a symbolic figure especially in order to bring good luck. Yuruchara is the Japanese term for a certain category of mascots that is used in the promotion of a particular prefecture, event, organisation, or even monument or structure. The word yuru means ‘loose’ and ‘wobbly,’ whilst chara derives from the word ‘character.’ The term yuruchara was coined by the Japanese illustrator and cultural critic Jun Miura in the early 2000s. Mascots have become so popular in Japan, that currently there are over 3,000 registered yurucharas. Also there is a yuruchara grand prix, which started in 2010 and is held annually. In this competition thousands of yurucharas participate to win the title of the best yuruchara.


The Kawaisa Phenomenon

Mascots in Japan are part of the kawaisa phenomenon. Kawaisa encompasses various categories of shōjo (teenage) culture, anime, manga, and mascots. Kawaii describes the adorable physical features that infants and animals have. It signifies anything that increases the feeling of love, care, and protection. This has become an all-inclusive ideal in Japan. The word kawaii can be used to describe the atmosphere or perceived qualities of something, as well as its appearance. If scholars were to trace the origins of the word kawaii, they would have a variety of contesting perspectives. Some trace it back to the pre-war era, while others contextualise its post-war phenomenon of ‘fancy goods.’ The phenomenon of kawaisa has been researched through the critical matrix of gender, aesthetics, sociology, and soft power diplomacy. It has been largely seen as a consumer preference or advertising strategy. However, it cannot be dismissed as just a meaningless consumptive behaviour. It can also be seen as a medium of communication between the individual and society. Many sociologists have called the kawaisa boom of buying kawaii merchandise and displaying kawaii behaviour of returning to an idealised childhood as an anti-establishment counter culture against Japan’s traditional conservative societal values. The Japanese people are socialised to be aware of several responsibilities and obligations which are an integral part of the social web, therefore relationships entirely devoid of responsibility and obligation that one can have with the kawaii objects can be a useful psychological base upon which one can construct and reinforce one’s own self-image. From the vantage point of gender studies, the phenomenon of kawaisa is seen as a discourse about individuals in finding and defining themselves through roles that transgress the traditional gender roles and norms. It is a challenge to the Japanese society that has been organized on the basis of hierarchy with emphasis on giri and on (responsibility and obligation), production (work), and power and morality of endurance. It is rather an encouragement of the creation of a society based on ideas of rights and freedom, consumption, and attachment based on emotions and morality of acceptable selfishness. An example of this could be found in the fashion and lifestyle of the popular Loli-chans of Harajuku. The image of Cool Japan has been used as a tool of soft power diplomacy. Anime and manga can be said to be major institutions of Japan’s soft power diplomacy.


Originality

As mentioned above, the phenomenon of Kawaisa in which the categories of manga, anime, shōjo culture, and mascots are incorporated, has been researched from the lenses of gender studies, soft power diplomacy, etc. However, very little research has been done when it comes to studying mascots as an individual category. Most of the studies mainly described mascots as items for consumption or something that is used to promote tourism, small and medium business, young designers, as well as used for the revitalisation of local communities. Also very little research has been done discussing the reason behind the popularity of mascots or the phenomenon’s boom in Japan. Further there is almost no literature when it comes to looking at mascots from a religious perspective. The reason for such a large acceptance, adoration, embracement, and proliferation of cute characters in Japan should be researched and analysed. The objective behind this research is to find the motivation behind such massive popularity of yurucharas and mascots in Japan. One of the ways of investigation could be to locate mascot and yurucharas in connection with Shintō. Mascots are anthropomorphic characters and anthropomorphism is a crucial concept of Shintō. According to Shintō beliefs, everything has a spirit; not only animals and plants can obtain a spirit but also inanimate objects like tables, chairs, umbrellas, etc. Also stories in the Kojiki talk about animals—like foxes and raccoons—thinking, acting, and speaking like humans. By investigating if mascots are a modern manifestation of the anthropomorphic characters already present in the animistic form of Shintō, the popularity and easy acceptance of mascots and yurucharas in Japan may be explained. Another objective is to investigate if yurucharas and mascots have a religious role. Considering examples such as the initiation of the Hello Kitty shrine in Kōfu (which is the birthplace of Shintaro Tsuji, founder of the Sanrio Company), printing the images of characters like Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma on omamori’s, or the casual presence of the statues of Kumamon and Hello Kitty on shrine premises raise the question if yurucharas also play a religious role in Japan where the lines between sacred and profane are extremely blurred. Another example can be found in the Billiken shrine of Ōsaka and the Kaeru Shrine of Nawate Dori in Matsumoto; both the Billiken and the Kaeru are mascots and objects of worship.